FDA head says menu labeling 'thorny' issue

FILE - In this March 8, 2010 file photo, the sandwich board at the Panera store in Brookline, Mass shows the calorie count for each item. Diners will have to wait a little longer to find calorie counts on most restaurant chain menus, in supermarkets and on vending machines. Writing a new menu labeling law "has gotten extremely thorny," says the head of the Food and Drug Administration, as the agency tries to figure out who should be covered by it. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
— AP

FILE - In this March 8, 2010 file photo, the sandwich board at the Panera store in Brookline, Mass shows the calorie count for each item. Diners will have to wait a little longer to find calorie counts on most restaurant chain menus, in supermarkets and on vending machines. Writing a new menu labeling law "has gotten extremely thorny," says the head of the Food and Drug Administration, as the agency tries to figure out who should be covered by it. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
/ AP

Not all restaurants have been fully supportive, though. A coalition of pizza chains - including Domino's, Papa John's and Pizza Hut franchise holders - have pushed for changes to the proposed rules that would allow more flexibility in how calories are posted because of endless combinations of pizza toppings. The coalition claims there are 34 million ways to order a pizza.

"When you're a small pizza operator trying to get by on tight margins, regulations like this really affect your bottom line, hurting your ability to grow and hire," Domino's Pizza franchisee Jonathan Sharp of Abilene, Texas, said last summer.